[butsomuch]

Rumor: Raven Software developing stealth-based Bond game, taking focus off X-Men Origins sequel

According to a report from James Bond fan site MI6, one of Raven Software’s teams was hard at work on a stealth-centric James Bond title before MGM finally decided to stop ignoring the mountain of debt that’d been crushing it since 2005. In addition, Activision reallocated a bunch of Raven folks to work on Call of Duty map packs, rendering the stealthy Bond game effectively invisible for a time. However, with MGM now plowing forward with its plan for profit through bankruptcy, Raven’s Bond game has been “taken off hiatus.” Another Raven title – a sequel to X-Men Origins: Wolverine – is apparently still “on the backburner.” Oh well, at least things are finally looking up, right? Er, not necessarily. Raven recently came a few steps closer to “nevermore” status after 20-40 employees were laid-off a couple months ago. Allegedly, the lay-offs were intended to re-focus the studio toward development of DLC. Now though, with at least one full-blown game running full steam ahead, the developer could be spreading itself a little thin. Here’s hoping its barren job listing page repopulates soon.

[LiK]

Not sure about this if true.

[Zomba13]

=/
I hope Bond doesn't kill another awesome dev. I still want Lucas Arts to get Raven to make Jedi Knight 3 or 4 or Jedi Academy 2 or Dark Forces 5 or whatever the next JK game with Kyle Katarn would be called.

[pakkit]

According to a James Bond fan site, eh?

[Neuromancer]

I hope for Raven's sake that this is not true.

[dream]

I hate Raven rumors almost as much as I hate Bond game rumors. The circle is complete, I guess. :(

[Rush2thestart]

Most likely an HD game based on the Bond 23 film. I wonder who would handle a Wii version? I personally hope its Eurocom, Goldeneye was awesome and the PS2 version of Quantum of Solace was supposedly pretty good.

[JdFoX187]

Didn't Activision say it was backing off the Bond license for a while?

[scitek]

You guys are nuts. A full game from Raven is certainly better than wasting their talents on CoD map packs, and the Bond license has nothing to do with the games typically not being good. The new Goldeneye is great. I'll take that Wolverine sequel, too, please.

[cuyahoga]

Footage of Raven's Bond game is somewhere in this reel

It was cancelled not because of MGM having any financial difficulty, but Activision wanted them to do stuff for CoD (as was widely circulated around the internet). (Also, my understanding is that Wolverine did not sell terribly well, so I don't think a sequel would be in the cards, though Raven did have two games cancelled in the last year - one of which was Bond obviously.)

[Absoludacrous]

You guys are nuts. A full game from Raven is certainly better than wasting their talents on CoD map packs, and the Bond license has nothing to do with the games typically not being good. The new Goldeneye is great. I'll take that Wolverine sequel, too, please.

Yea, but clearly the Bond license might as well be a death sentence.

[Rush2thestart]

Yea, but clearly the Bond license might as well be a death sentence.

Maybe just for Bloodstone/ Bizarre Creations.

EDIT: That footage looks too close to Bloodstone for me. Doesn't seem very stealth-focused either...

[scitek]

Yea, but clearly the Bond license might as well be a death sentence.

But they've worked on licensed stuff before and it's turned out well.

Footage of Raven's Bond game is somewhere in this reel

Looks like a Splinter Cell Conviction knock-off to me, which is perfect for a Bond game, IMO. It was terrible for a Splinter Cell game, though.

[tino]

Yea, but clearly the Bond license might as well be a death sentence.

Bobby Kotick is looking for excuse to close Raven.

[cuyahoga]

Thought I might take some screencaps in the event that footage goes offline…

[IMG]http://i56.************/2mlgk7.png[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i56.************/hw9xf4.png[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i52.************/1532mie.png[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i51.************/o8gkqs.png[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i56.************/5ma5c8.png[/IMG]

[Neuromancer]

You guys are nuts. A full game from Raven is certainly better than wasting their talents on CoD map packs, and the Bond license has nothing to do with the games typically not being good. The new Goldeneye is great. I'll take that Wolverine sequel, too, please.

I have no interest in a Bond game by anyone, I'd much rather Raven get the chance to do something they want to do... Singularity 2 baby!

[Htown]

those rooftops look an awful lot like a part of bloodstone.

Anyway, Goldeneye plays pretty stealthy, if you want to go about things that way, and it's freakin awesome, so I don't see any problem with this.

I have no interest in a Bond game by anyone

Goldeneye is pretty good, man.

[Neuromancer]

Goldeneye is pretty good, man.

That's what I hear. I don't have a Wii though so it's academic.

[Rated-Rsuperstar]

Footage of Raven's Bond game is somewhere in this reel

Looks exactly like Blood Stone.

[No_Style]

Footage of Raven's Bond game is somewhere in this reel

This Hanjin Song fellow is talented.

[scitek]

I have no interest in a Bond game by anyone, I'd much rather Raven get the chance to do something they want to do... Singularity 2 baby!

I'd love to see Singularity 2, as well, but that isn't going to happen. It didn't sell well. I know Activision sent it to die, but they aren't going to take the blame for its poor performance. If the choices are that they either work on a Bond game, make CoD map packs, or they are shut down, I'll take the Bond game all the way. They're a good, talented developer, and I wish things were different for them.

[YagizY]

This game will come out in a couple months, probably get no advertisement, sell like crap, and then everyone at Raven will be fired.

Let's take a look at a bunch of titles that never got any advertisement from Activision: Singularity, James Bond: Bloodstone, Wolfenstein, Transformers: War for Cybertron.

Honestly Activision doesn't give a fuck about promoting anything that is not Call of Duty.

[Penguin]

The footage looked more Bourne than Bond, the scissors looked like the pencil trick from the first movie, and the bathroom fight looks like something form 3rd movie.

[Deadly]

Does Activision own Raven? Because I want Jedi Knight 4 please =(

[Rush2thestart]

This game will come out in a couple months, probably get no advertisement, sell like crap, and then everyone at Raven will be fired. Let's take a look at a bunch of titles that never got any advertisement from Activision: Singularity, James Bond: Bloodstone, Wolfenstein, Transformers: War for Cybertron. Honestly Activision doesn't give a fuck about promoting anything that is not Call of Duty.

Why are you ignoring Blur and Goldeneye?

[I NEED SCISSORS]

Quick, we need to find someone who played Blood Stone to confirm if that's a different game. Because it looks rather awesome whatever it is.

Also, what the are other games in the reel? The troll game specifically.

[D4Danger]

apparently stealth now means QTEs and a cover mechanic

thanks, Splinter Cell.

[YagizY]

Why are you ignoring Blur and Goldeneye?

Because I was listing games that got little to no advertisement. I felt like Goldeneye and Blur were pretty well advertised. Although I'm not sure about Goldeneye because I got rid of cable recently so I don't know if they were running ads for that. Blur definitely had a bunch of commercials but came out at a pretty bad time. Their was Split/Second competing against it and I also believe their was another big title that came out around the same time.

[Rush2thestart]

Because I was listing games that got little to no advertisement. I felt like Goldeneye and Blur were pretty well advertised. Although I'm not sure about Goldeneye because I got rid of cable recently so I don't know if they were running ads for that. Blur definitely had a bunch of commercials but came out at a pretty bad time. Their was Split/Second competing against it and I also believe their was another big title that came out around the same time.

Ok well I was talking about your last sentence where you said Activision doesnt care about promoting anything but COD. Cause I was thinking they definitely did for Blur and Goldeneye.

[YagizY]

Ok well I was talking about your last sentence where you said Activision doesnt care about promoting anything but COD. Cause I was thinking they definitely did for Blur and Goldeneye.

Yes they did but they still screwed up releasing Blur when they did. They still mismanaged that title. Goldeneye might be the only thing that they really have tried on recently. Still, the games that I listed that they didn't advertise were good games. They could have sold well with even a little advertisement. Fucking Wolfenstein. That should not have been a flop. I don't know if the game was rushed or not but the game wasn't completely polished and no one even knew it came out when it came out.

[cuyahoga]

Quick, we need to find someone who played Blood Stone to confirm if that's a different game. Because it looks rather awesome whatever it is. Also, what the are other games in the reel? The troll game specifically.

I played Blood Stone up until the last chase, and I can confirm it's a different game. The other game looks like Singularity.

[onken]

Raven making a game without awesome over-the-violence? Boo I say!

[Raide]

Get working on a new Heretic or Hexen game you slackers! :lol

[BAW]

This could work! Besides, it makes sense for a secret agent to use stealth techniques instead of showing his face bluntly at venues bad guys frequent, driving outrageous cars.

[Ellis Kim]

apparently stealth now means QTEs and a cover mechanic thanks, Splinter Cell.

the Bourne Identity game says hi.

[Shiggy]

So they decided to uncancel it? :lol

[Domino Theory]

No thanks, just give Casino Royale 2.

[plufim]

Because I was listing games that got little to no advertisement. I felt like Goldeneye and Blur were pretty well advertised. Although I'm not sure about Goldeneye because I got rid of cable recently so I don't know if they were running ads for that. Blur definitely had a bunch of commercials but came out at a pretty bad time. Their was Split/Second competing against it and I also believe their was another big title that came out around the same time.

Came out at the same time as Modnation Racers as well

[Wii]

Just make Return To Castle Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory 2 with the old maps spruced up + few extra campaigns for free!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U84K55KmNJY

WUNDERBAR!

[Shiggy]

Video is private now, anyone wants to rehost the Bond footage?

[Nirolak]

Just make Return To Castle Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory 2 with the old maps spruced up + few extra campaigns for free! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U84K55KmNJY WUNDERBAR!

That wasn't Raven actually, that was Splash Damage.

Splash Damage is currently making Brink.

[Cardon]

Video is private now, anyone wants to rehost the Bond footage?

Here's an alt source of the video.

[Xater]

That's a weird rumor just having made my peace with Raven being the COD map pack studio.

I would also rather see them do another X-Men game than a Bond title.

[stilgar]

Just make Return To Castle Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory 2 with the old maps spruced up + few extra campaigns for free! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U84K55KmNJY WUNDERBAR!

I like you. CW:ET needs a serious redesign, but it's still an excellent fps.

[Easy_D]

=/ I hope Bond doesn't kill another awesome dev. I still want Lucas Arts to get Raven to make Jedi Knight 3 or 4 or Jedi Academy 2 or Dark Forces 5 or whatever the next JK game with Kyle Katarn would be called.

In a perfect world, after the failure of the first Force Unleashed, Lucas Arts would have signed Raven to make at least 2 new Jedi Knight titles :(.

[Xater]

In a perfect world, after the failure of the first Force Unleashed, Lucas Arts would have signed Raven to make at least 2 new Jedi Knight titles :(.

I'd like to live in this world. :(

[Enkidu]

In a perfect world, after the failure of the first Force Unleashed, Lucas Arts would have signed Raven to make at least 2 new Jedi Knight titles :(.

It's not like it has to be Raven making it. After Jedi Academy I'm not so sure I trust them to do a good job anyway.

[BattleMonkey]

Stealth and Bond are really two things that rarely go together. Bond is always pretty overt with his operations.

[GraveRobberX]

The Raven Bond game and Bizzare Creation Bond game look too similar

It's like the Raven game looks like a more polished version of BC's game, or is it BC's game borrowed ideas/assets from Raven and was quickly told by Activision to churn out a game and then Raven would release their definitive version later on?
(Like the yearly COD, a yearly Bond. Creepy how Activision lets go of teams and throws next version to another team, bye bye IW & BC, hello Treyarch & Raven)

Once I saw the video, both teams have almost the same concepts for their respective Bond game. There had to be sharing among those 2 companies, it would be unbelievable if both had many of the same ideas that match each other

I just finished Bond Blood Stone, restarted playing on 007 difficulty (1 shot you die...argh), and the trailer snippets gave me an eerie deja vu feeling of I have played this before

[Stallion Free]

I liked BloodStone, they really nailed the gameplay. The driving sections had some of the most impressive graphics I have scene this year easily.

I also love Raven Software so I would buy this to help them stay alive. Also, I anticipate their maps in the Black Ops map packs to be significantly better than the ones in the actual game.